With Season 9, Blizzard has permanently revamped the dungeons in Diablo 4 and integrated new mechanics. However, players somehow don’t really know what it is supposed to do.
This is how Blizzard has revamped the dungeons: The new Season 9 has not only introduced seasonal Horadric spells and gems, but also permanent adjustments for the Nightmare Dungeons:
- In the Nightmare Dungeons, Horadric vaults can appear, where you only have a limited time to slay monsters and thereby increase your reward level.
- There are now the “Escalating Nightmares” – a chain of three interconnected Nightmare Dungeons where the affixes stack. At the end, you can expect a reunion with Astaroth, a well-known boss from the campaign.
- Additionally, there are new dungeon affixes that allow you to see what awaits you inside even before the start, including treasure goblins or the good old Butcher.
In the Horadric vaults, you choose from various trials at statues before starting your run. The idea behind it: You influence your passage in the vault. But this is where the big question mark in the community begins.
“No idea what they even do”
What bothers players about the mechanic? In a post on Reddit, the user Jarleyhartbarvis shows with a screenshot that he finds most of the trials available to him in Horadric vaults trivial. He doesn’t notice any difference, no matter what he chooses.
His post has gathered over 1,600 upvotes so far. The general sentiment: Many players choose the trials more or less randomly. Either because they don’t understand the effects or because they simply seem to do very little.
The top comment is from Grev_Ingolf. He writes: “Yep. I have no idea what they even do. I just slay everything and fill the reward bar.” And x_frisian_x is more pragmatic: “The special monster at reward level 3 is the only one I choose with conviction.”
Even ang_hell_ic can’t make much sense of the trials: “Man, same. I really tried to figure out if one is more beneficial than the other, but honestly it doesn’t feel that way.”
Others decide simply by color, because: The pillars have the known loot colors – blue, yellow, orange. Naidmer82 writes: “I have never read a single pillar description. I just click on the rarest color and leave the room.”
Players speculate: Focus on more speed and more monsters
Which trials are worthwhile? The user N4thilion has found a way to slay more monsters and thus increase his reward level:
I usually choose the option “spawns ambushes after shrine activation.” Then I activate each shrine on the way to the pillars in a sprint. With each activation, the number of ambushes seems to increase. This way I passively spawn more monsters and usually reach rank 6 quite easily.
In the comments, the trials that increase the speed of rituals are generally popular, as they make the runs more efficient. Diablo expert wudijo also explains in his YouTube video what it’s all about. According to him, trials that:
- accelerate the completion of rituals
- spawn additional enemies
- ensure that pillars attract enemies
- bring portable objects into the game that grant you strong buffs
The more targeted buffs you activate, the faster your reward bar fills up. The higher the bar is filled at the end, the better the loot you get. And the boss spawns as soon as you reach the highest level, so even before the timer runs out.
The Horadric vaults are not a seasonal feature, but a permanent part of the Nightmare Dungeons. The seasonal content revolves around the new Horadric spells and gems that enhance your builds. To craft the gems, you need to find recipes in the vaults as well as gather gem fragments and vials. And if you wonder what you get back when dismantling the stones: A player dismantled a seasonal gem in Diablo 4 so you don’t have to.
